


Not a Big Deal

by jeeno2



Series: Arya x Gendry Week [4]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, AryaxGendry Week, Brotp, F/M, Fluff, Friendship, Kissing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-30
Updated: 2014-07-30
Packaged: 2018-02-11 03:22:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2051721
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jeeno2/pseuds/jeeno2
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Gendry invites Arya Stark over for dinner at his apartment.  The only problem is, he can't cook.  Hot Pie and hijinks ensue.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not a Big Deal

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Day 6 of Arya x Gendry Week ("Pride"), and in response to a tumblr prompt from meli_fan: "Don't make such a big deal out of it."

“Good night Gendry,” Arya says at the end of their phone call.  She giggles a little, which surprises him.  Arya doesn’t normally _giggle_.

“Good night,” he says back to her.  There’s an idiotic grin on his face right now – he can feel it – but he doesn’t care.

After another very long moment he sighs happily and hangs up the phone, wishing Arya were here with him so he could say goodnight to her properly.

One half-second later, the giddiness Gendry felt just now when Arya agreed to have dinner with him at his apartment tomorrow night melts away, and is replaced by sheer, blind panic.

Arya is the daughter of a U.S. Senator and has been completely out of his league from the day they met.  More to the point:  she’s had a full kitchen staff preparing all her meals since she was born.  In stark contrast, Gendry doesn’t know how to cook anything that doesn't involve a can opener or the microwave.   

It's a minor miracle Arya even wants anything to do with a guy like him.  And now he has to go and ruin what’s been an incredible few months by offering to cook for her.

 _What_ _the_ fuck _was he thinking?_

Gendry realizes, suddenly, that he needs help.  Lots of it.

His hands shaking, he grabs his phone and scrolls down the contact list until he gets to Hot Pie's number.

"Hello?" his best friend's sleepy voice reaches him from across the line. Gendry wonders, suddenly, if the call woke him up.  He glances up at the clock over the stove.  He winces a little when he sees it's after eleven.  

He knows Hot Pie has to open the bakery tomorrow morning at five.  Gendry would feel badly about calling him this late if he weren't so completely fucked right now.

"Hey, Hot Pie," Gendry says, very quickly.  "I'm, uh.  In a bit of trouble..."

"Well shit, son," Hot Pie says.  He sounds more alert now.  "What'd you do this time?"

Gendry coughs a little into the phone and shakes his head vigorously.   "No, no.  No.  It's nothing like that."  He closes his eyes and grits his teeth, bracing himself.  "I... uh.  I asked Arya Stark over for dinner tomorrow night.  And she... she said yes."

His friend lets out a low whistle.

"Well done, Waters," Hot Pie says, laughing.  "You've been sweating that girl for months now."

Gendry feels his face redden at the accusation.  But he doesn't dispute it, because it’s the truth.  Ever since he met Arya at the gym last February she’s been on his mind constantly.  He can’t stop thinking about her brilliant, sarcastic sense of humor.  About the way her gray eyes light up when she laughs at one of his jokes.

And about the way she just seems to _get_ him, despite their very different backgrounds, in a way no other girl he’s dated ever has.

But obviously he can’t tell Hot Pie any of this.

"Look," Gendry says instead.  "The reason I'm calling so late is... I... uh... I have no idea what to make for her tomorrow."  He swallows audibly and grips the phone more tightly.  "And even if I did, I’d have no idea how to make it."

There’s a very long pause on the line until, eventually, Hot Pie sighs.

"You didn't think of any of that before asking her over for dinner?" he asks weakly.

"Obviously not."  Gendry fidgets with the collar of his shirt, getting increasingly flustered.

"Well, okay.  Look," Hot Pie begins.  "Don't make such a big deal out of it.  Clearly she knows you're not, you know --  _royalty_ , or whatever the fuck she is--"

"She's a Senator's daughter," Gendry cuts in.

"Whatever," Hot Pie says dismissively.  "What I mean is, she wouldn't have agreed to come over if she didn't like you, right?"

Gendry's face goes even redder at the suggestion.  "Maybe she's just bored and is looking to get out of the house," he mumbles.

Hot Pie snorts derisively.  

"Right," he says.  Gendry can practically hear his friend rolling his eyes from three blocks away.  "I'll come over tomorrow after work and give you a few pointers, ok?  But I really think whatever you make will be fine."

"Oh man," Gendry says, letting out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding.  "You're a total lifesaver."

Hot Pie laughs.  "I try.  Now go away, shithead.  I need to get some sleep."

And without another word Hot Pie hangs up the phone.

\-------

Arya shows up at Gendry’s apartment the next night right at six-thirty, wearing a gorgeous, low-cut blue dress that sets off her eyes and black heels that give her a good two inches of height.

Gendry’s never seen Arya so dressed up.  The idea that she would want to get dressed up for him – for tonight’s dinner – sets his pulse racing.

"I like your place," she says as she pokes around the living room.  His apartment is just a small one-bedroom on the outskirts of town, and Gendry finds it hard to believe she actually likes it.  But she sounds so earnest, and she's smiling at him in a way he doesn’t think he’ll ever get tired of.  

For the moment Gendry chooses to suspend disbelief and take her comment at face value.

“Um… thanks, Arya,” he says.  He’s smiling back at her now.  He can’t help it.  “Um, are you hungry?  I’ve made… kind of a… lasagna, thing.” 

He used a recipe his foster mom used to make when he was a kid.  In the end, it hadn’t been all that difficult.  He used a jarred sauce, rather than homemade (“Just let it go, bro,” Hot Pie insisted when Gendry freaked out over the jars of Ragu).  And the cheese on it was from those pre-shredded packs at the grocery store.   

Although he was glad Hot Pie was there for moral support, in the end, Gendry more or less managed to do it all on his own.  When it came out of the oven, all bubbly and browned on top, Hot Pie assured him, repeatedly, that it looked and smelled great.

“Oh, lasagna,” Arya says brightly, nodding.   She gives him another broad smile, making it suddenly feel like there isn’t quite enough oxygen in the room.  “That sounds delicious.”

Before the end of the evening they each have two helpings.

\----------

Much later – once the leftovers are packaged up and put away; after the dishes are washed and dried and stacked – Arya stands up on her tiptoes and kisses him. 

They’ve kissed a few times before.  Quick pecks on the cheeks or the lips when he’s dropping her off at home after one of their not-quite-a-dates. 

Gendry can tell immediately that this kiss isn’t like the others.  She kisses him shyly at first, but soon enough her arms wrap around his neck.  Instinctively, he kisses her back, pulling her tight against him. His hands come to rest on her tiny waist of their own accord while her fingers creep down, and down, her hands exploring the firm planes of his chest through his shirt.  His tongue darts out and he licks at her bottom lip, sucking on it gently until she grabs on to his shoulders to stay upright.

Gendry has never been one to take much pride in his accomplishments.  He didn’t distinguish himself in school in any way.  He never went to college.  And he has a shitty job that he hates.

But as Arya Stark kisses him into oblivion in his kitchen he realizes, suddenly, that if a girl like her wants to be with him, somewhere along the way he must have done all right. 


End file.
